The Archive Haven
by Gingerninja93
Summary: The war is over. Cybertron lies in ruins and Megatron, like many cybertronians, is in stasis. Optimus Prime was supposed to be reformatted to allow for peace as the remaining cybertronians rebuild. Except he remembers and he is in no mood to deal with the mechs who betrayed in. Unfortunately, fate might not let him ignore his duties. He was chosen for the reason after all.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Jazz looked grimly at the datapad in front of him, a feeling of unease in his spark. This would bring peace to Cybertron with little more energon shed. Still the idea of what he was about to agreed too, what he and Prowl were about to do, it was treason.

"Having second thoughts Autobot?" Starscream asked, his screechy voice for once deadly serious and not taunting.

Prowl and Soundwave watching him silently from their postions in the dark cave, Prowls wings low showing his unhappiness at the situation but something had to be down. All four of them knew it. There weren't enough mechs left to retrieve Cybertron, they were a race fast becoming extinct. Which was why the four of them were now hidden in a dark cave far from the Arc and Nemesis making the final plans to ensure their planets survival.

"More like reviewing them Screamer," Jazz drawled back, Starscream glaring fiercely at him for using the nickname but not saying anything outright. "Sorry if it takes me a moment before backstabbing my friend."

Something had to be done and if they were to do this, all four of them would be needed to suceed. They were all out of character today. The loyal Autobot second and third, planning the downfall of their beloved Optimus Prime. The loyal third Soundwave doing the same for his Lord Megatron. Starscream making peace with Prowl for the good of Cybertron. It come to no surprise to anyone that Starscream was part of a plot to dethrone his Lord.

"Jazz," Prowl murmured, "It's the only way, the matrix cannot be allowed to continue controlling out destinies like this. Prime must fall and Megatron must not be allowed to gain it." Prowl's voice was firm but Jazz could feel the unease in Prowl's field. He wasn't happy about this either.

"Optimus: Is a good Mech. But the line of Primes must end." Soundwave stated, even his monotone voice a few octaves longer than normal with the gravity of the situation. "Optimus will live." He offered. Jazz almost laughed but stopped himself. Soundwave was trying to reassure him, as strange as it was.

"Just reformatted so he can't remember," Jazz stated.

It was in the peace agreement. Optimus was not to be harmed, but reformatted. Megatron was to be put into stasis until they could decide what to do with him. Megatron wasn't the one with an ancient relic in his chest though, they needed to keep Optimus awake to make sure there was no damage done when they removed the relic. Jazz didn't like it. To reformat someone was to remove their memories. It didn't necessarily change who they were personality wise unless they had some serious trauma, but it did remove what made a person themselves. It was meant for criminals of the lowest kind. Not a soft sparked leader who refused to see he was slowly committing genocide. But Optimus would still live, just in a different form.

It was a small comfort to Prowl and Jazz, a way to relieve their guilt over what had to be done. Optimus had actually given them time to have RnR because he had been worried about how stressed they had seemed. It had taken surprising little effort to thank the concerned bot, which in many ways only made Jazz's spark twist worse. Optimus cared about them all so much, but that was also partly why this had to happen.

He was far too soft sparked to allow Prowl's plans to play out and win the war. Plan which often forecasted the death of many mechs.

"Jazz if you can't do this…" Prowl started, his doorwings tensing up.

"I can," Jazz said firmly, finally signing his name on the datapad and sealing the fate of Cybertron. Sending a pray to Primus that Optimus would understand. He had done far worse in the war to save lives.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

The plan worked. Optimus wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but the four mechs had managed to take down the two leaders and put into stasis every mech who might have fought back against the new regime. Prowl and Starscream had led the way back to Cybertron, where they had put all the Cybertrons still fighting the war in stasis too, planning to awaken them as they fixed the damage which had been done to the planet.

There was only one real flaw in their plan. Optimus remembered who he was. Not at first, he had woken up from the 'reformatting' like he had been freshly activated. It was strange now remembering waking up with no memory.

 _"Hello, I am Orion Pax." The newly awakened bot smiled up at the red and white mech who had entered the room, "Was there a problem with my awakening?" He asked, looking around the clearly medical room. Most preformatted mechs woke up in the temple after being summoned by Vector Sigma._

 _"Of a kind Kid," the mech said, his voice gruff. "Are you getting any error signs?" He asked, plugging into a scanner._

 _Orion shivered as he felt a scan move over him. "My spark is running hot." He mused, "But no critical errors."_

 _"The frame you were granted is bigger than your spark size normally would inhabit, but we don't have the resources to fix that anymore," the medical bot admitted, "It the meantime, you will have to be care not to strain yourself. Your spark should settle in a few orns."_

Optimus rubbed at his chest as he reviewed the memory. Ratchet had shown no signs of knowing Optimus previously when he had 'awakened' Orion Pax. No-one had when meeting him either. It was almost like they had removed him from their databanks, except as Optimus's memory returned he began to notice the looks. Pity. Sadness. Guilt. Not just from the Autobots who had served under him but the Decepticons too.

They didn't know he remembered. As more and more of his memory returned, Optimus found himself instinctively knowing not to tell them. Something inside of him was telling him to keep his memories a secret.

"Orion?" A voice called. Optimus looked up from where he was looking at the floor and over to his berthroom's door. It was Bluestreak, the praxian looking at him strangely. "Are you okay?" He asked, walking over with a frown. The young gunner had been his babysitter ever since he had been awakened. His babysitter and also his guard, as friendly as the gunner had been. Optimus knew that all his movements and actions were reported back to the new council. To the four who had done this to him.

"My chest was twinging," Optimus shrugged, "Not bad enough to summon Hatchet, though." He smiled disarmingly. Ratchet was somehow more protective of him now he was 'Orion'. Optimus guessed it was because it had been Ratchet's job to remove the matrix and the medic was afraid of losing Orion as a result. His frame was far too big for his spark after all.

If the old mech had been given half the change, Optimus suspected Ratchet would have adopted him. Unfortunately for the medic, Ratchet and Wheeljack were already technically the creators of no less than fifteen mechs. Even if the majority of them were under stasis pending more energy reserves being found, they could not really look after another naïve mech. Only the Protectobot were awake. The Aerialbots had needed too much fuel, and the Dinobots were too violent to be allowed to be awake.

"You know Ratchet likes you. You don't have to be scared to go see him. Just remember not to call him Hatchet to his face, because you know he hates that the twins introduced you to him like that. Really he should have introduced himself to you but Ratchet was really worried about your spark not being able to cope in your frame so if your sparks hurting we should really go see him," Bluestreak teased, assuming Orion just didn't want to see the mech.

Optimus laughed. Bluestreak was still damaged by the war, a few vorns of peace wouldn't fix that, but he no longer switched from one topic to another unless he was having a bad day. "If you insist," He let his smile drop a little, "I just would rather one orn where I'm not in the med bay." He admitted softly.

Bluestreak gave him a sympathetic smile, patting his shoulder. "It's not your fault," Bluestreak reassured, "No one thinks badly of you for Vector malfunctioning."

The excuse was given to Orion to explained why his spark and frame size did not match up. The truth was part of how Orion had known something was different about him. Even if Vector Sigma had 'malfunctioned', why would the new council order new mechs to be made while their comrades were in stasis awaiting being awakened? Once his memories had returned, though, it made more sense.

His frame had been, for lack of a better term, transformed by the Matrix, in part by Alpha Trion and the old council, to become a warrior prime. This had been made possible by the matrix which had sent extra power though him in order to move his frame and be able to fight without his spark fluttering out. Without the matrix, even doing a basic load of work was difficult. His arms and legs felt slow and sloppy, even high-grade energon didn't seem to give him enough energy to function as a normal 'mech'.

Some had suggested he be put into stasis until they were able to fix the problem. Ratchet refused on medical grounds and the new council backed him. Starscream had actually ordered Cliffjumper and Gears into stasis to ensure there would be no complaints about energon usage. Optimus did need more than most without the Matrix as a battery. Jazz had actually comforted him, reassuring him they wouldn't going to make him suffer because of his 'disability'.

Optimus felt many things about his situation. One thing he did know for sure, he felt betrayed by Jazz and Prowl. He smiled to their faces, but he could tell his former subordinates knew Orion was uncomfortable around them. Not that it stopped them from trying to be his friend.

"I know but still. I haven't flicked out just yet and todays an off-duty day. If it bothers me again we can go but today…" Optimus gave Bluestreak his best puppy dog eyes, "I want to go explore!" He said firmly, letting his Optimus 'You will obey me' tone mix in with his Orion persona.

Bluestreak bit his lip in a very human expression of uncertainty. On one hand the younger mech knew how much Orion hated going to the medic bay and he was almost pre-programmed to obey when he heard that tone of voice but Prowls and Ratchets orders were clear in his mind. If Orion's chest hurt, he was to go to the med bay.

"Orion Pax," A stern voice came from behind Bluestreak, making both mechs jump slightly, Orion chest twinging again, "You know better than to try to get out of going to see Ratchet." A disapproving but cold tone scolded. Prowl was looking at the both of them seriously.

Orion had been housed in the newly created quarters for Prowl and Jazz. Bluestreak had the apartment opposite and shared with Smokescreen. Optimus knew it was just another way for the two to try to relieve their guilt. He imagined that someone had thought it would make Orion warm up to them, to have two high-ranking mentors look after him. They weren't excepting Orion to shy from them.

"Prowl," He said quietly in greeting, his smile fading. Prowl's wings dipped slightly before the mech straightened up again.

"Med bay. Now." Prowl ordered sharply, "I will escort you."

"I don't need a guard," Optimus grumbled, letting Orion turn slightly bratty, pouting like the sparkling he was supposed to be. "Or am I not considered safe?" He taunted. Bluestreak looked confused, and Prowl didn't let anything show on his facial plates.

"Not to yourself," was Prowl's response, though his tone was less cold and more resigned. "Orion…"

"Fine," Orion huffed, standing up awkwardly with his limbs and followed Prowl out of his room and out of his apartment. Bluestreak followed, trying to distract Orion were the gossipvine. Bonecrusher had gotten into another fight and had to be restrained, the twins had started another prank war with Soundwave's cassetticons. Jazz was planning a party to welcome Starscream and his trine back from their trip to the ruins of Vos.

Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp were the only seekers awake. For the same reason as the aerials and the shuttles, the rest of the seekers were in stasis awaiting them to increase their energon stores. Optimus had heard rumours that they were planning to awake up either Blitzwing or Skyfire though. They needed someone to help transport energon mining equipment. While Skyfire would help and Starscream was eager to try to reconnect with his friend, the number of Autobots to Decepticons was currently skewed in the Autobot's favour. If Blitzwing was agreeable, it would look better to the troops that another Con was awakened.

Orion hummed and nodded at the appropriate intervals as Bluesteak spoke but his spark wasn't into it as he followed Prowl, the former tactician as silent as ever as Bluestreak chattered around them. Brushing his field against both of theirs in comfort. Orion because he hated being the way he was. Prowl because Bluestreak knew Prowl wanted Orion to be friends with him like Optimus had been. A wish which was hard to fill when the normally warm and smiley Orion was so obviously cold to him.

Eventually they arrived at the med bay, Prowl practically pushing Orion inside only it wasn't pushing but Prowl didn't 'push'. Bluestreak continued to chatter as they entered the room, his doorwings moving as he spoke, now talking about how Starscream and his trine had told him about the festival Vos would have had around about now and how Praxis and Iacon both had similar festivals in the same time zone and how he wondered if the other cities had too.

Maybe Optimus was wrong with his assessment that Bluestreak had improved.

"You would have to check the archive Blue," Orion chuckled, "I don't have that knowledge." He grinned at Bluestreak as Prowl went to get Ratchet from this office. A lie. He did know from both his time as an archivist before the war and his time as Prime. His spark ached again. Every city had once held a festival around this time.

It was known by many names and each city had once had its own traditions about how it was observed but it was all to the same purpose. A festival celebrating the joy and love of Primus. Thanking him for protecting them and praying for him to continue. A religious festival which had not been adhered to in millennia and yet Optimus felt sadden by this. If it was safe for him to be Optimus, he would have gone deep and solemn about this, but as Orion he could not mourn for Primus and his festival of light.

Now that the position of 'Prime' had been removed no one cared about praying to a god they no longer believed in. The priest in Optimus wanted to shout and scream at them for being fools, but it would do no good. The cybertrons had disowned their god. They drank his blood and used his skin, but no longer acknowledged just who they walked on.

Optimus spark weeped.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

"Ratchet?" Prowl called as he entered the office, relaxing as he was no longer in the judging glare of Orion. As much as Prowl hated to admit it, Orion reminded him too much of Optimus sometimes. The mech was not Optimus, that much was clear from how he acted. Somehow exactly like Optimus and at the same time completely the opposite. But ever since they had 'first met', Orion had been guarded around him and Jazz. Almost like Orion's spark knew it had been them who had betrayed him.

"Prowl?" Ratchet looked up from his desk, reading datapads, "What's wrong?" He demanded, standing up, some of the datapads surrounding his desk collapsing as he did so. Prowl rarely came down the medical bay unless something was wrong with someone. Never himself, if Prowl needed medical attention it took Jazz, Bluestreak and possibly Smokescreen to get the Councillor to finally seek help.

"It's Orion, his spark's hurting again," Prowl admitted, doorwings low as he bend down to pick up some of the data pads.

Ratchet nodded, but didn't exit the office straight away. Instead, he looked Prowl up and down, measuring him up as he put the pads back on his desk. "Orion's still being cold to you isn't he?" Ratchet said in his normal gruff voice, though it was slightly saddened. It wasn't only Prowl and Jazz Orion was off around, but those two did seem to suffer it the most. Most of the Autobots felt the loss of their leader harshly when Orion did things which were just so Optimus.

Strangely Orion seemed most comfortable with the Decepticons, despite knowing he was technically of Autobot frametype. A civilian not a war build, at least in spark not by frame. The Decepticons were oddly accepting of him, despite him being the former Prime.

"There are more important things to worry about," Prowl said stiffly, not about to talk about his feelings on how things were between him and Orion. Ratchet watched him silently for a moment, but Prowl refused to say another word, meeting the medic's optic squarely.

Snorting, Ratchet finally shifted, "Fine, don't talk to me about it, but I will tell that brother of yours to corner you about it," he warned, "You are part of the council, you can't let whatever it is between the two of you damage your position."

With how fragile things were, they couldn't afford a troublemaker in the ranks. That was the reason that Cliffjumper and Gears had been put back under after all. They needed people to stick together at the moment, and while Orion obeyed every order like a good mech, Prowl needed to get him on his side again.

"Smokescreen is not my brother," Prowl denied as he walked out of the office after Ratchet and towards Orion as Bluestreak was explaining what he knew about the Praxis traditions of the Sparks festival.

"Close enough," Ratchet argued as he set up a spark monitor, Orion wordlessly giving Ratchet access to his data ports.

"We are from the same frame mold but we are from completely different batches," Prowl argued smoothly, "The enforcers would never have allowed his personality quirks."

Ratchet snorted again, "The rule obsessed stick up the aft Praxian enforcers wouldn't allow someone who cheats and gambles in their ranks? Why is that surprising?" He commented sarcastically, petting Orion's helm fondly in greeting as he ran the scan. Bluestreak giggled as Prowl struggled to understand Ratchet's logic for a moment.

"Am I your brother Prowl?" Bluestreak asked, fluttering his optics innocently in a look not too dissimilar to the one Orion had given him to try to let him have fun instead of only to the med bay. Orion let himself smile slightly at Bluestreak's antics. Just because he didn't like Prowl, didn't mean he couldn't find the mech's friends and family teasing him funny.

"Yes, I have officially adopted you as such," Prowl said firmly, not about to let the younger mech tease him into thinking that Bluestreak was hurt because Prowl didn't think so. Prowl had mentored the younger Praxian too much to fall for those tricks anymore.

Bluestreak let out a sound of delight and hugged Prowl, much to the others frustration. It wasn't like Bluestreak hadn't known Prowl had adopted him, but the young gunner liked the excuse to hug his older brother. Especially when Prowl was stressed or hurt and wouldn't admit it.

"Given as there is only three Praxians left, I would just accept the fact that as far as most people are concerned, Smokescreen is your brother too," Ratchet said dryly, looking over the results, "It's not there will ever be anymore."

Both Praxian's lowered their doorwings at the sad and bitter statement. Orion looked confused at the two of them, "Why?" He frowned, "I thought Streetwise was Praxian too, and someone mentioned two warrior builds? Dead End and Barricade?"

Bluestreak and Prowl looked at each other strangely before looking back at Orion, the innocent pre-programmed mech who still had a lot to learn about Cybertron and its former cities. The idea that Streetwise was Praxian was strange but not that far out, he had doorwings much like them but unlike true Praxian, he didn't have the same coding behind them. The fact Orion had learned about two other with similar frames was surprising though. It wasn't like the Decepticons went around proclaiming how much they missed their sleeping comrades. Jazz on the other hand, often complained about how he missed Blaster and being able to put a proper party on.

"You know how Starscream's always going on about how having wings and flying is not enough to be a seeker there is more? It's kind of like that." Bluestreak tried to explain as he let go of Prowl but was struggling to find the correct words.

"Culture and coding," Prowl commented, "To be Praxian is not just doorwings, it's a base code. I'll admit I don't know about this Barricade but Streetwise and Dead End both don't have the coding. They have Praxian frames but that is not enough to make them Praxian."

"Oh," Orion's frown deepened, "What coding do I have?" He asked tilting this head curiously, looking up at Ratchet.

"Messed up coding," Ratchet growled, "Your spark is a little stressed but as long as you rest, you should be fine." He commented, unplugging the monitor. "Is there a reason your spark is stressed?" He asked, passing the young mech his ration of medical grade energon.

Orion shrugged. "Had a weird dream last night," he offered as he took a sip of the high concentrated liquid. "Maybe that set it off?"

"Dream?" Prowl frowned, "Unlikely, we don't dream like humans."

The look Orion gave him was enough to make Prowl pause. "Well it wasn't a memory purge," Orion said dryly, taking another sip to hide a smile as all three mechs flinched at the idea that Orion could have a memory from Optimus. "Not unless…" he frowned as something else occurred to him, "No. This was something different." He settled on.

Prowl and Ratchet shared a look. Orion wasn't normally one for being mysterious but he didn't seem like he was going to share the details of this strange 'dream' without being prompted. They needed to know if any memories were beginning to bleed over.

"Care to share?" Ratchet asked.

Orion tilted his head before shrugging. "I…" He paused, "I was somewhere else but I know I was on Cybertron. There was a statue of a mech, or I thought it was a statue but it moved and spoke. I can't remember what he said though. Or was it, I couldn't hear what he said," Orion wondered outloud, Optimus thinking over the dream himself. He knew who it was. He knew where he had to go, but he could let the disbelievers know that.

"Do you remember if you were in a room or not?" Ratchet asked, as Prowl wrote down the dream on a datapad.

Orion looked at Prowl coolly, "Since when have my dreams been worthy enough of recording?" He asked darkly before finishing off his energon. Prowl ignored him and continued writing. "I was in a room Ratch,"He revealed. "It was in ruins though, like the rooms we haven't fixed yet." He pursed his lips. Optimus deciding how much he should tell them, whether to hide it and leave them in the dark or to let a few details spill and scare them with the idea Primus was looking to him.

"Any other features which could identify the room?" Prowl asked stiffly,

"It glowed blue," Orion offered, "On the floor and where the walls and ceiling weren't damage there were patterns." Not that was any better to try to narrow it down, Optimus mused, plenty of 'sacred' or 'important' rooms had blue patterns to light the way. "I think. I think it's close, which was why I wanted to explore today." He frowned, pressing his spark again.

"No," Both Ratchet and Prowl yelled, Prowl dropping the datapad and Ratchet spitting out his own energon onto Orion.

"Why?" Orion frowned, gratefully taking a cleaning cloth from Ratchet.

"You are not to go exploring until your spark stops pulsating!" Ratchet ordered, "If I have to put you one medical watch I will Orion Pax!" he threatened, Orion frowning at the order.

"My spark hasn't stopped pulsating since I woke up," Orion complained, "I mean, I know I was meant for the archive, which you tell me is destroyed, so doing data clerk work is something I was meant for but I'm fed up of being useless." He frowned unhappily, "It's not like I can use the strength my body is capable to help in other ways."

"Orion…" Bluestreak murmured, looking at his brother and Ratchet beggingly.

Prowl moved over, in a rare display of empathy and put his hand on Orion's shoulder. "You are not useless," Prowl said with enough steel that Orion sub-consciously straightened slightly, "The Archive will be rebuilt one day and you can refill your original purpose then if you so wish it. For now all we need you to do is survive and help where you can. The last thing we need is to lose another spark to the well because you strained yourself too much."

Orion sunk slightly at Prowl's words. Prowl frown deepened as he realised why. "Please Orion, do not make us lose you as well." Prowl ended with, his voice soft, bumping their helms together in a fond gesture that send Orion's spark clenching.

"Okay," Optimus lied. "I won't go looking for the room until my spark is more stable."

All three mech looked at him with relieve in their optics. Optimus's spark twisted. Prowl was not an affectionate mech, that bump had been the equivalent of a kiss or hug for most mechs. Prowl still cared about him, as did Ratchet, Bluestreak and the rest of the Autobots. They just couldn't risk him turning back into Optimus Prime.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Optimus walked around the half repaired tower idly once Ratchet finally released him, a monitor install on his spark so Ratchet would get a notification if Orion stressed himself again. Optimus was partly touched by the gesture, partly irritated. It meant they could spy on his location and make sure he wasn't looking for the room in his dream. The temple of Primus.

Every city once had a temple though sometimes it often doubled up as the cities shrine to their patron Prime. Optimus could remember Iacon's temple clearly. It had been large, engulfing the Archive though they had been separate buildings and complexes with several hidden passages connecting them together. Orion had never seen the upper level passages but Alpha Trion had mentioned them a few times when he was hiding from council mechs who wanted him to do them a favour. The lower level ones were a different story.

Optimus smiled sadly at the thought of Alpha Trion. The old mech, with the autobot femmes, were in stasis alongside Shockwave and the seekers who had been under his command in Tarn. When the energon on Cybertron had almost completely depleted, the old eyed guardian had put everyone he could find in stasis. Why he had offered it to the autobots was a mystery which would only be answered when they were awakened.

"Orion?" a voice called.

He glanced over to see Soundwave standing near him, the councillor holding two cubes of energon. "Councillor Soundwave." He greeted, "What brings to here today?" Optimus asked as rested on a balcony seat.

"Rumours that you had a strange dream," Soundwave commented, placing one of the cubes in Orion's hand. "Prowl is unavailable to explain. Soundwave hopes you are willing to tell me." Soundwave sat next to him comfortably. The fact Soundwave couldn't read his mind like most mechs from an annoyance to Soundwave and a gift from Primus to Optimus. It meant if Soundwave wanted to know something from Orion, he had to ask it of him.

"Those rumours spread fast," Orion chuckled, knowing the reason. Bluestreak, bless is spark, would have told the twins and from there the gossip-vine would have ran like wild fire. "There is not much to tell I'm afraid. I dreamt I was in a room and a mech was talking to me but I couldn't hear him. Now I feel a pull to find the room but Ratchet and Prowl have ordered me not too." He shrugged.

"Are you going too?" Soundwave asked guardedly.

"Not today," Orion winked at Soundwave teasingly. "The monitor Ratchet hooked up on me kind of stops me leaving the tower without him knowing so." Orion waved his hand uncaringly. "Maybe next deca-cycle when my spark stops pulsating the moment I do something which could strain it." He mused as he drank the energon had been given. If one of the councillors or Ratchet handed him energon, Orion knew it was a silent order to drink it.

"Why do you want to?" Soundwave asked softly, taking a drink from his own cube.

"Why do I want to find the room?" Orion clarified, "To be honest, I don't care about the room. I'd just like to go exploring outside of the tower. It's not like I'm much use repairing it." He pointed out, "All I know about outside the tower is the Archive is in Iacon which is north of here, and that room. Iacon's a little far for me to go in a day so, the room it is."

Soundwave was silent for a moment, Orion turning to look out of the tower window which was behind them. The landscape was mostly dark, with flickering lights were the ruins weren't quite completely destroyed. Kalis was the first city that they were rebuilding. Kalis had always been Autobot territory but it was also where the biggest store of energon left was. Kalis once been the refinery for the planet before the two factions had spilt.

"The New Helix Gardens," Soundwave commented suddenly, "Orion could help with the gardens. We have not had time to search the old ruins yet. Prowl predicts a low chance that there could still be traces of crystals to regrow. Shockwave has some in storage but only Shockwave can access them. Prowl is planning to send some mechs to Praxus to search the gardens for any signs."

Despite Shockwave's apparent moment of compassion towards the Autobot rebels, no one wanted to wake him up and discover his true mind-set just to ask him for the key to Tarn's vaults. The guardian had a merciless reputation for being loyal to Megatron beyond reason and with the decision on Megatron's fate being uncertain it would not be a good thing to wake up a loyalist. Until Megatron's fate had been decided, Shockwave was on a list of Decepticons and Autobots not to be awakened.

"I see," Orion smiled, "That would be cool to help make a gardens here. The painting Sunstreaker did of the Helix gardens made them look stunning and Bluestreak said something about the crystals singing?" Mending the Helix Gardens wasn't what Optimus wanted to do. The gardens were something precious to Prowl not to Optimus. If there was anywhere on Cybertron he wanted to mend it was the hall of records, at least the archive's knowledge would come in handy. That being said, the New Helix Gardens could be an interesting project until the day he was allowed to leave Kalis.

"Bluestreak: Correct. The crystals resonance with another and sang to those who could hear. Praxians, Seeker, Priests." Soundwave smiled softly, "Telepaths."

"Did you see the gardens before they were destroyed then?" Orion asked interested, twisting so he was looking at Soundwave. "You were from Iacon weren't you?"

Soundwave flinched, or at least his expression did. Soundwave's mask slide back into place sharply. "Correct." Soundwave said sharply, "Soundwave saw gardens before destruction. Soundwave was sad when they were destroyed."

"I'm sorry I offended you," Orion murmured, surprised by how Soundwave had reacted. The mech in general tried to keep his mask off now to encourage a more 'friendly' atmosphere. It didn't work because Soundwave was far too used to hiding every emotion, but the fact Soundwave had covered his face at the mention he was from Iacon said a lot.

"Orion did not offend. Iacon was not a good time of Soundwave's life," Soundwave admitted, looking out of the window like Orion had been. "Soundwave did not realise Orion knew Soundwave lived in Iacon."

Orion shrugged, "People were talking about the cities. I asked where people were from." He calmly. "I know my frame is from Iacon but Ratchet said my coding's messed up so I don't know where I belong." he mused.

"You belong here with us," Soundwave said firmly, "You are one of many new Mech without a city-state. You belong with us."

"So should I say I'm New Kalian?" Orion joked.

Soundwave looked at him, and it took Orion a moment to realise Soundwave was laughing. His shoulder shaking. "Perhaps." Soundwave commented, his voice as neutral as ever but his shoulders were still shaking with mirth. "I will talk to the other councillors about it. It will not just be you who wishes a home. The Protectobots are also city-less. All of the mech created off planet are city-less."

"I think Streetwise said something about being called a Terran," Orion smiled softly, "Groove and First Aid seemed to agree with the idea. Hook wanted to get them checked out by Ratchet. Smokescreen seemed to think it was a good idea."

"Orion is Cybertrionian," Soundwave said simply, "Soundwave will ask Prowl and Starscream to let Orion visit Praxus to explore. Orion will tell Soundwave if the dream changes?" Soundwave asked, tilting his head slightly.

"You think it will happen again?" Orion frowned.

"Soundwave thinks so," Soundwave nodded, "Orion must tell if the dream changes."

"I will," Orion nodded slowly, giving off a confused but obedient air.

Soundwave patted his shoulder before standing up, Ravage appearing from a corner and sitting on Soundwave's shoulder. "Soundwave will see Orion later. Try to enjoy your day off." He nodded at Orion before walking away. Orion watched him leave, Ravage's tail swaying behind him.

Optimus frowned inwardly, thanking Primus that once again for Optimus's strange immunity to Soundwave's abilities. The mech was suspicious about the dreams. Optimus understood why, the dreams were obviously religious, though Orion didn't know about religion yet. Optimus looked back outside to the ruined city of Kalis. He needed to find out more about where Kalis had its temples. The only other option would be to run away and head for the Well of All Sparks at least but he doubted he would be able to get there without being caught by Starscream and then they fact he was actually Optimus Prime would be out.

Signing he stood up and headed down to the common rooms. Hopefully someone had set up some Earth movies. He needed some inspiration on how to escape from his friends. His spark pulsed again, and he grimaced as Ratchet pinged him on his comm. Primus wanted to talk to him, that much was certain, but at the moment it looked like it would be in the Well instead of in a Temple.


	5. Chapter 5

"What did you do?" Ratchet demanded over the comm, "Get your aft back up to the medical bay!" the healer ordered firmly.

"I love how you think I did something," Orion signed, turning in his tracks, looking longing at the lift which would have taken him to the rec room where fun existed. Orion's shoulders were slumped as he walked back towards Ratchet's domain.

"Did you?" Ratchet swiped back, sounding more stressed than normal. Orion's spark pulsed again. "I thought so!"

"I did nothing! I had a conversation with Soundwave. Sparks pulse from time to time, as you so often reassure me. It pulsed then because I was worrying about you. You sound stressed," Optimus frowned unhappily. Ratchet has been his normal grumpy self though the peace but ignoring one incident involving scraplets, the mech hadn't been too stressed out. Orion was the main source of Ratchet's stress.

There was silence for a moment, before Ratchet exhaled. "Sorry kid," Ratchet murmured, "Just caught me at a bad moment."

"Do you want me to still come over?" Orion asked, stopping his tracks, half hoping Ratchet would let him go.

"Get up here now," Ratchet growled before cutting off the comm.

Orion grimaced and carried on the corridor, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker appearing next to him. "Orion," Sideswipe grinned, clasping him on the shoulder, "Heard Ratchet wants you again." The red mech grinned. From a tactical point of view, the twins were awake because they were not only fiercely loyal Autobots, they understood that sometimes things had to be done under the table. At the moment the twins worked as bodyguards for whoever needed them, be it Bonecrusher in the brig again or the Ratchet wanting someone to escort Orion to the medical bay.

"I was heading there now actually," Orion commented darkly, Sunstreaker patting his shoulder in pity.

"I've had a bad day. Five pulses." He explained grimly.

"You've been doing well lately haven't you?" Sideswipe commented, "Blue said they were going to let you have the day off today?"

"Technically," Orion sulked. "I just wanted to get out of the tower," he moaned. "But Soundwave said he'll talk to Prowl about letting me go on the expedition to Praxus and the Helix garden project," he gave Sideswipe half a smile.

"That sounds fun," Sideswipe said neutrally.

"You mean it sounds dull and boring," Orion smiled more warmly at Sideswipe as he shrugged and made a noise of agreement and winked at him.

"The Helix crystals were beautiful but it was a very boring place. For the crystals to grow properly they have to grow in a peaceful environment, which the Praxus took to mean that around the gardens was a fun exclusion zone," Sideswipe griped. "Give me Polxhex's nightlife any day."

"Uncultured swine," Sunstreaker growled, "Praxus was beautiful, the cystrals were unique to any others I have seen."

"From the guy who would prefer being on his own and playing games on the computer to going out and having fun," Sideswipe shot back. Orion giggling as Sunstreaker pushed his brother and they began to bicker between each other. Some young autobots would be scared to be between the twins as they fought, but Orion and Optimus knew better.

He paused as his spark pulsed again frowning, he leaned against Sideswipe as his legs turned to jelly and he fell. "Op –Orion!" Sideswipe yelled in surprise and worry, Sunstreaker calling Ratchet immediately as the red twin tried to support Optimus's frame.

"That time hurt," He whispered, his spark aching, his vents working at full speed before another pulse hit, this time making him yell in pain as it sent sparks thoughout his frame. Sideswipe holding him hold as he suddered from the waves of pulses which his spark was going though. The world began to tilt and he was on the ground.

Both the twins were on the ground with him as the world began to shake and Optimus wasn't entirely sure if it was just his mind from the pain or if Cybertron was actually shaking. The pulses hit again. He howled before all of a sudden it felt like he was no longer in his body. Instead his body was yelling out.

"Where are you? Where are you?" Over and over, his voice sounding oddly modulated like it wasn't his own anymore. Then there was darkness.

* * *

Ratchet watched Orion's vitals carefully as the former prime slept. Orion's face twitching uneasily in his sleep. His mind not able to reboot until this spark finally stabilised. At least Cybertron was no longer having earthquakes or Orion was calling out in that strange voice. Except that voice hadn't been Orion, or even Optimus. That voice had belonged to a far older mech. The glyphs had been pre-quintessons war. Sideswide hadn't actually recognised the language Orion had been yelling but Sunstreaker had.

"Any news?" a quiet voice asked from behind him. It was First Aid, ready for his shift in the med bay.

Ratchet shrugged helplessly, turning to look at the younger medic, knowing that his brothers would be listening in through their geselt bonds. Hook was also standing there, the former Decepticon medic leaning against the desk with his arms crossed. "He's still far under," He murmured, "If he wakes up let me know Aid, Hook. He…" Ratchet paused, "He's pre-programmed as a data clerk for the archive, he'll know what he was screaming out but not why."

"Do we know why?" Hook asked solemnly.

"Not yet," Ratchet shook his head, his voice sober "I'm going to talk to the council about it now." Ratchet looked at Orion helplessly again. "I don't know what it is," He admitted, his field tinted with frustration. Ratchet had agreed to do the reformatting, but it had only caused his friend pain.

"Call me religious, but the fact Cybertron shook while the former Prime called out 'where are you' in the ancient tongue may be connected," Hook commented lowly.

"What are you suggesting?" Ratchet asked, looking at Hook, warning Hook not to say anything which was too dangerous for any of them. None of the new council approved of the idea that Primus was real or should have any real power among them. Not after the likes of Sentinel and Nova Prime. Prowl refused to believe in a god, as did Starscream but seekers were known to have been created later than other frame types. Soundwave and Jazz acknowledged that Primus could exist but didn't believe in the tenant or any of the religious texts which remained about him.

"That Orion's problem might not be medical," Hook murmured, his eyes looking at the sleeping Prime, "And speaking as someone who had been reformatted several times and has fractured memories of each, this may give Orion some of Optimus's memories back."

"You think Primus was calling through Orion?" First Aid frowned, the young Autobot mostly ignorant to why the idea of a god was such a bad thing. "How would that even work, they are not connected anymore?"

Ratchet looked at Orion again, his expression masked. "Things are never that simple Aid," Ratchet murmured, "Priests of Primus have always been known to be able to 'channel' him." Ratchet's face and air quotes around the expression 'channel', revealed what he thought of that particular idea. "Optimus had the Matrix for a long time, it is possible that Primus is still able to …" Ratchet trailed off and shook his head. "We shouldn't speak of this."

"I've got it blocked under patient confidentiality," First Aid offered.

"Same," Hook commented softly.

"Which still means eleven mechs knowing when they shouldn't," Ratchet pointed out firmly, "Primus or not, Orion is not Prime anymore. Religious raptures should not occur though him. Now I have to go, I'll bring up your point at the meeting if Prowl hasn't already thought of it Hook." Unlikely as that was, Ratchet thought bitterly. Hook was right. An earthquake and Orion yelling in another voice in ancient Cybertron? That was not a combination which could not be ignored.

After Ratchet left, First Aid and Hook looked at each other helplessly. "Hook," First Aid murmured, "Why are Prowl and the others so afraid of Primus?"

Hook looked at the young Autobot, feeling uneasy in his spark. "It's complicated," he settled on lamely, "Now Ratchet told us not to talk about it, so let's get to work." He said firmly, technically more superior to First Aid though their skills were on par. First Aid had a strange look in his optics but he nodded and silently began to clean the instruments in the medical bay. His brothers chattering in his mind about the new information they had been given.

:It's complicated?: Bonecrusher sent over Hook's own bond with his teammates. :Learn that deflection method from the squishies?:

:Humans, not squishies. Starscream and Soundwave's orders: Scavenger pointed out.

:Because they can heard us on the gestalt bond: Bonecrusher snarled unhappy with being told off by his more naïve teammate. Scavenger's spark link pulsed hurt for a moment before it faded as Bonecrusher sent a wordless sorry.

:It doesn't matter: Scrapper murmured, every member of the gestalt pausing what they were doing to listen to their leader. :We can't tell the Autobot younglings the truth about Primus and the old council. Optimus was a good Prime, but he came far too late for any real reparations between our god and us now. What we do have to be wary off is Optimus returning. It seems Primus is trying to re-establish their connection and we all know reformatting is not exactly as permanent as the council would like to think.:

:I like Orion, I don't want to have to kill him: Scavenger thought sadly.

:We wouldn't: Hook reassured, looking over at the dull colours of the Autobot prime :The treaty states that Optimus is not to be killed. If Optimus returns, he's back. Simple as. At least we weren't the ones to betray him:

That thought made the gestalt link pause and sudden. After all, Orion didn't trust Prowl and Jazz for a reason, if the mech understood why? That would only make matter worse. Still, there was one question and both the Constructicons and the Protectobots minds as their respective components cleaned the medical bay while watching the sleeping Cybertron. If Primus had been calling through Prime, who had he been calling for?


	6. Chapter 6

"Honestly," Starscream sighed as he settled back into his seat. "I leave for a few cycles and the rapture starts," He commented with half a tease in his voice. Prowl glared at him coolly for the implication.

"The world is not ending," Prowl said dryly, "The rapture would suggest that Prime would have disappeared, and we would be starving in chaos with no hope of ever regaining peace again. Orion is still here, and the energon in the energon well is still flowing."

The former enforcer commented in a neutral tone like he was stating facts not the end of the world. He was busy looking through what few records they had regarding Cybertron and earthquakes, which was not a lot at all. With the Hall of Records offline and much repair needed, all they had was the files kept during the war. Most of the war files were not really about the weather conditions of Cybertron, ignoring Shockwave's detailed notes about the Acid storms. Certainly the only trace of earthquakes had been from when someone had tried to turn on Cybertron's engines and destroy Kalis.

"It was a rumble, Earth gets them all the time," Jazz shrugged, not really concerned about the earthquake, "It was hardly dangerous. The only thing which makes the situation strange in Orion yelling in ancient tongues."

"Where are you? Where are you?" Soundwave inserted, "The glyph for 'you' was one used for loyal servants or slaves." The communication expert mused. "Alongside Orion's recent dreams and pull to the temple of Primus, this does not look good." Prowl turned his glare to Soundwave for the implication. Like Starscream it had no effect.

Starscream frowned, looking at Prowl and Soundwave. "Dream?" He asked neutrally.

"Orion had a dream about being in a ruined room looking at a statue which was talking to him, but he couldn't hear the words," Jazz summarised. "Orion said he felt as if the room was close and wanted to go exploring to find it but Ratchet and Prowl vetoed the plan because of his spark pulses."

"Not a memory purge then unless Prime visited one of the temples after it was destroyed," Starscream murmured, his voice oddly calculating. "I visited the ruins of the temple in Vos," he revealed softly, "The statue was defaced and mostly destroyed. The crystal was cracked. It ran out of power when we were there and fell to the ground. If Skywarp hadn't had caught it, it would have smashed."

"I'm surprised, I thought Vos didn't have a temple to Primus," Prowl admitted.

"Just because seekers were not created by Primus, does not mean there weren't believer's among our ranks. My clone for one is a particularly strong believer of Primus and his ways," Starscream admitted with embarrassment in his field that one of his line could believe in such nonsense. "The fact the crystal fell shows that no Seekers truly believe anymore," he shrugged.

"Still, it doesn't bode well if there are any awake who still have wonders about the existence of Primus," Jazz murmured. "Op was meant to be his representative here and with Orion calling strange words…"

"It means nothing." Prowl said firmly, "It is mere coincidence."

"Regardless the more religious will think this is a sign," Starscream said darkly. "We need an explanation for these strange events, it's not like we can say Orion was speaking in his base code tongue because even when he was first sparked it was out of use. He may not even know the words he was yelling."

The door pinged in the silence after that, all four mechs thinking out ways to keep this from going too well known. The fact of the matter was only a handful of mechs did not know at this point. The twins hadn't told anyone, but the Protectobots knew because of First Aid, the Constructicon's knew because of Hook and the Cassetticons knew because of Soundwave. Add in the four council members and Ratchet, the only people awake who didn't know were Bluestreak, Skywarp and Thundercracker and they were likely to discover sooner than later given their relationships with the council members,

"Come in," Prowl called, sending the door code.

Ratchet walked in and collapsed on one of the free chairs. They hadn't had time or resources to make a proper council chamber for meetings and hearing, so they made do with a normal meeting room. It wasn't the most secure, but Soundwave had done his best to make it so. Red Alert if he was awake would poke so many holes in it that Prowl dreaded the moment they finally awakened the security director but for now they couldn't risk him damaging himself because of the treaty with the Decepticons.

"How is he?" Jazz asked from his place, the light behind his visor still off, "Has he awakened yet?"

"Orion or Optimus?" Ratchet asked gruffly, "Because from what I understand this could trigger memories resurfacing." Ratchet exhaled. "He's asleep for now, his spark isn't stabilizing correctly," He admitted soberly.

"Orion might wake up as Optimus?" Starscream said, his voice devoid of the normal hatred towards the Prime. Starscream didn't hate Orion, or even Optimus really. He hates the institution Optimus represented.

"Hook seemed to think so," Ratchet nodded, his eyes not meeting anyones. "I can't reformat him a second time if he does, the Constructicons had made it clear that it doesn't work and if anything would damage Optimus's spark further.

Jazz's visor lit up in surprise, looking at Ratchet in shook, "When did the Constructicons become experts on reformatting?" He frowned. Starscream shifted uncomfortably as Prowl and Soundwave looked at him with neutral looks.

"Starscream: reformatted Constructicons before Constructicon's arrival on Earth. Reasons for Constructicon unstableness at first," Soundwave informed Jazz. "Constructicons: have been reformatted at least three known times."

"They remember," Ratchet intoned, "They remember most of their past lives. Not all of them, but enough to know who they were and what they have done. From what Hook and Scrapper have told me, they didn't remember all at once but rather had flashes until eventually it all returned. Saying that, Scavenger remembers less than the others, Scrapper the most. I think we can take the assumption that as the head of Devastator, Scrapper has a higher CPU capacity which is why he remembers more."

"Under that reasoning, if Orion regains Optimus' memories, he'll recall most of them," Starscream mused, "Data clerk and all." He exhaled, "We were lucky he didn't have any spark memories."

"I think that's the Matrix's doing," Ratchet commented, looking like he wanted a drink, "I blame all of this on the Matrix. Giant repository for memories of the previous Primes. Connection to Primus." He snorted, "Waste of scrap metal which caused more issues than it solved."

"That I can agree on," Starscream smiled grimly, "If Optimus is who wakes up, should be put him to sleep like Megatron?" He asked, "He's not likely to be happy, and he can not be allowed power here."

Prowl and Jazz flinched, Jazz standing up and moving away from the table. Ratchet just kept his eyes on his drink. "I can't sign off on putting Optimus to sleep if it comes to that," Ratchet admitted in a whisper like he didn't want to admit to what he was about to tell them. "His spark is too damaged. If we put him to sleep, he may not wake up. Heck, he might not wake up this time." His voice broke near the end, Ratchet viably struggling.

"Ratch, my mech, it's not your fault. We all thought that Orion's frame would be shape to its former reconfiguration once the Matrix was destroyed," Jazz murmured, moving over to pat the mech on the shoulders, letting their fields brush comfortingly.

"There was only a 0.9% chance this would occur," Prowl agreed gently, spreading his own field out to the medics. "We did not know."

Starscream and Soundwave were silent. They understood, slightly, why the Autobots were still so attached to their former leader. Orion was a sweetheart and both of them liked the data clerk, even when he was being a brat about his condition. Still, Ratchets reaction was a little hard for them to process. If one mech had to die for there to be peace, it didn't seem like a hard choice to make but the Autobots refused to allow that mech to be Orion or Optimus.

"If Optimus wakes, we will discuss with him how to proceed. Optimus has never been a stupid mech, I'm sure he will have an idea of what he can do to stay out of the way," Starscream offered as a compromise, "For now, let's assume we will have Orion. Should we let him follow the call to the temple or should keep him distracted?"

"That answer is easier said than done. We can't let Orion go to any of the temples, but how are we going to keep him distracted when his frame problems mean he can't do anything strenuous?" Jazz commented frowning.

"Soundwave: Has suggestion." Soundwave said, looking at a datapad in front of him, "Proceed with the Helix plan. Let Orion go to the Helix gardens to search for Crystal fragments. Give Orion a task to do instead of data collection."

Ratchet frowned, "That would be a long way for Orion to go without someone to help if his spark begins to pulse again."

"Soundwave suggests: send First Aid. Protectobots also restless. Change of pace may be good. Plan to wake up Blitzwing, maybe good now. If Blitzwing is amendable, Blitzwing can fly Orion and selected crew to Praxus." Soundwave laid out his plan on the table.

"Who else should be sent?" Prowl asked as he drew up a new file. "We can't send all of the Protectobots, but one more,so Hot Shot knows First Aid is safe would be a good idea. Scavenger as well maybe? I know he likes this kind of work and he had basic medic training from Hook."

"Only if you want every shiny thing the mech finds being brought back," snorted Starscream.

Slowly the new council created a plan to send Orion on a trip, all four praying unwittingly to the god they were hoping to avoid that Orion woke up as Orion and not as Optimus Prime.


	7. Chapter 7

Optimus shuddered as he woke up, a cry on his lips. Not of pain but fear. First Aid was next to him in a sparkbeat, the young bot rubbing his back and holding his hand as Optimus came too, his vents working heavily. He had dreamed of Megatron, the first time they had met. The first time Megatron had almost killed him.

"Orion?" First Aid murmured, "Are you okay?" he frowned, Orion feeling a medical scan running over him, not from First Aid but from Hook, who had moved over to them as well. The spark monitor wasn't suggesting Orion was in pain but he was trembling.

"Nightmare," He smiled weakly at First Aid, "That attack hurt, a lot" He vented, his shaking slowly calming, his hand rubbing at his chest plates. Hook past him some medical grade energon, the Contructicon watching him with careful eyes as he took a shaky sip. Optimus shivered at the intensity of Hook's visor on them. "Was there an earthquake during my attack?" Orion asked frowning as he went through the memories of the incident, trying to distract them slightly.

"Yes, strange and we don't know why," First Aid commented frowning, "There is nothing recorded that would suggest why Cybertron would shake."

Optimus froze for a moment as something flashed over him. A memory of a datafile. Not one Orion would have known upon awaking up, something only Optimus Prime could know without looking in the Hall of Records. He knew what had caused the earthquake, and it was not a good thing.

"Orion?" Hook said in an oddly tender voice, "Is there something you need to tell us?"

Orion shuttered this eyes innocently, "I don't know what you are talking about," he said guardedly, Optimus cursing inwardly. It would be Hook who noticed him freezing, one of the few cybertronian's in existence who had been reformatted themselves. Who knew what it felt like to have strange memories which didn't fit.

"Orion…" Hook trailed off, "I'm not stupid. What came to you?"

"Just," Orion rubbed the back of his helm in a very human gesture that he had 'picked up' from the other young mechs who were currently awake. "Strange memory purges," he admitted, knowing Orion would not fight telling one of the medics that type of information. Optimus was not about to reveal the truth to them, but maybe it was time to take a few more risks with how much information he gave out. After all, if what he thought was happening was actually occurring, he would need to reveal his presence at some stage.

"Can you explain more?" Hook pressed, First Aid connecting Ratchet silently.

"When Aid mentioned that no one knew why Cybertron shook, I remembered my first dream with the statue I couldn't hear," Orion admitted, "And then Bluestreak talking about the festivals around this time of Vorn which every major city had. A datafile appeared aswell. Hall of Records stuff that I know you don't want me know."

Hook and First Aid both froze at those words. "We don't want you know?" First Aid clarified, "No such thing." The younger mech tried to laugh the word off, but it was obviously nervous laughter, "Why would there things we don't want you to know?"

"I'm not from Vector Stigma. Or rather, not recently. I was reformatted," Orion stated firmly and without care of their reaction. Optimus grinning to himself as the two mech practically fainted. First Aid stammered words out panicky while Hook just calmly stood there waiting for Ratchet to appear. Orion kicked his legs idly, "I don't remember who I was but it's the only explanation for a lot of things. It's why I don't like Prowl and Jazz. It's why my spark and frame don't match. Most of all, it's why I just had a nightmare of dying with very painful memories. Physically painful. You don't get pain in memory purges unless you have actually felt it."

That statement made both gestalt mechs freeze, along with their brothers. Optimus Prime had died? Hook took a step forward and pushed Orion down so he was laying on the berth. Gently, but with little warning, Hook opened his chest plates. First Aid moving close to look too, Orion letting them, more than a little surprised by their reactions. Hook didn't ask to see Orion's spark, nor did Orion unlock his spark chamber. Instead, Hook focused on the casing, hands trembling as he saw it.

Scaring from a gun, the type of scarring which came from a direct hit. Something which as far as Hook knew had never happened to Optimus Prime and yet it was there. Along with a memory of being shot.

:Megatron?: his link asked, First Aid falling to his knees beside him. The idea that Optimus Prime had been killed at one stage of the war almost too much for him to handle. There had never been any rumours or stories of Optimus Prime being felled, and Megatron would have shouted any times he had done so to the high heavens.

"What do you remember of the mech you shot you in your dream?" Hook asked, his voice barely steady. He had been expecting Optimus to return after a spark attack and possession by Primus. Not this.

"Silver. Red eyes. He had a cannon," Orion paused, closing his plates, Hook letting him. He had seen all he needed to. Orion rubbed his chest again. "I remember my spark feeling funny when I saw him. I opened a door and he was there. Then he shot me."

First Aid, who had just pulled himself up, collapsed again as he heard those words this time blacking out. Hook was not sure how he hadn't crashed himself at that news. Orion looked at the two of them concerned, shifting to get off the berth to help First Aid, but Hook stopped him. A hand on his chest, the Decepticon shaking his head.

"No, stay on the berth," Hook ordered, kneeling down himself to pick up First Aid. Putting the junior medic on a berth and checking him over. His mind refusing to think about the secondary information he had just been given. Megatron had shot Optimus. The chances of it being anyone other than Megatron was low but how had none of them noticed it?

"Have I done something wrong?" Orion asked his optics looking unnerved and slightly scared. Hook's hands paused over First Aid.

Straightening up, Hook looked at Orion and shook his head. "No. No, you haven't," he reassured, "Just wait for now. Ratchet should be back soon," Hook promised, his brothers quiet for the moment. This was still Orion. Young, unknowing and slightly confused by everything which was going on around him. Most importantly, clever.

Ratchet walked in to First Aid on a medical berth, out cold with Hook looking over him with Orion looking sheepish. Ratchet blinked slowly, moving over to his apprentice who was normally resilient against all things, both strange and serious. "Orion," He exhaled, knowing only one person could have really caused this in the young medic. "Explain please?"

"Orion worked out he's a reformatted mech because he remembers how he died. He doesn't remember who he was though," Hook commented softly.

"Op-Orion never died," Ratchet frowned, looking at the young mech who was swinging his legs. "You confirmed to him that he was reformatted without warning the rest of us?" he demanded.

"I did die. I felt it," Orion argued, pouting, "Anyway, it's not that hard to work out when you have the facts." He sniffed.

"Like what?" challenged Ratchet, sending red alerts out to the base. Orion knew he was reformatted but not who he was. Several pings came back, including Prowl who was already on his way to them. They needed damage control and they needed it quick before too much of Orion's former life came to life.

"None of you know where Vector Stigma is, do you?" Orion asked dryly.

"Its…" Ratchet trailed off, "It's connected to the Well of Allsparks."

"Though tunnels which only priests of Primus have access too. Given you all hate Primus, somehow I doubt you know the way. Which only leaves one way to get to Vector Stigma. Though the front door. Which is in?" Orion led, his tone brattish and almost condescendingly.

Both Hook and Ratchet looked at each other helplessly as they realised they didn't know. "Wait, Primus? You know about Primus?"

"Of course I know about Primus! I'm designed for the Hall of Records, sparks which second to only Priests when it comes to matters of the afterlife," Orion frowned, as both Ratchet and Hook looked at him blankly. "The archive and the great temples have always been strongly connected to each other. If a priest loses his way, often he becomes an archivist and sometimes archivist sparks are too priest like for their own good and go into the clergy. We're on the same caste level. Or were." Orion trailed off, "I guess now is different."

"The priests and the archivists were very private. I doubt many knew that outside of the groups," Prowl stated from the door, having arrived as Orion had given his explanation about how he had known about Primus. "Where is Vector Stigma?" Prowl asked, "Where is it that you knew you were not one of its mechs?" He demanded.

Orion looked directly at Prowl, his optics cold and said one name which made perfect sense in a strange sort of way. There was only one place no one had been since they had restarted rebuilding Cybertron. Mostly because the acid storms had all centred there, making it far too dangerous a place to travel too.

Kaon.

Optimus Prime grinned grimly as Prowl collapsed, Ratchet rushing to him. That was enough waves caused for one day.

* * *

A/N: not too quick I hope for Orion to regain memories in their eyes, though they still don't know Op is back. I figured Optimus would enjoy playing with them.


End file.
